Schools
Education head John White says diploma system needs re-evaluation | The Advocate – White says the “career diploma” has become a dropout’s diploma. He believes the state should discontinue its use.
Recriminations Continue for Tony Bennett, A-F School Accountability | Education Week – Some education observers believe that recent disclosures of the A-F school grading system in Indiana being changed to help a particular school will lead to increased scrutiny in all states using A-F systems — Louisiana among them.
The Resignation: Why Bennett and Not White? | deutsch29 – Education blogger Mercedes Schneider writes a scathing post, and asserts the Louisiana Department of Education is holding back the release of A-F school grades for Louisiana schools— which she claims were due on July 29— in order to “massage” the results.
Government & Politics
Management of two LSU hospitals in north Louisiana will be turned over to a nonprofit foundation that has never run a patient-care facility, raising concerns about whether it has sufficient experience and financing to oversee the hospitals.
Looking deeper into NGOs-PART 1 | Forgotston.com – Longtime political observer C.B. Forgotston releases the first in a series of reports on “Non-Governmental Organizations funded by the taxpayers of Louisiana that have not complied with the law.” First up is The Colomb Foundation. It received $300,000, but Forgotston can find no evidence that the non profit filed a 990 Report to the IRS. In a subsequent post, Forgotston claims that a legislative staffer threatened him with a lawsuit because of the post. Take a look at Part 2 in Forgotston’s series.
McDermott to close its Morgan City operations | Associated Press – Over 300 workers will lose their jobs at the plant in Morgan City owned by McDermott International. The Jindal administration cited the shipyard’s lack of deepwater access as the reason for the closure. I’d venture to guess that labor costs were also a key factor.
Criminal Justice
“In my ideal world, instead of the sheriff and the city continuing to fight over the staffing issue, which is inevitably going to be resolved, to make sure we don’t have more violent outbursts, people being unnecessarily hurt, the staff at risk and all that, what they need to do is come together, not kick the can down the road and wait for some federal court to do it,” [U.S. District Judge Lance] Africk said. The consequences are too great, he added: “I don’t want the blood on my hands.”
Owen Courreges: Conduct unbecoming a police officer | Uptown Messenger — Courreges reviews the many failures of the New Orleans Police Department and concludes, “We have indulged a national trend that has given police greater job security at the expense of a good department, and there needs to be change.”
Land Use
Off-track betting proposed for New Orleans East | The Advocate – “The Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots plans to bring its first off-track betting facility in Orleans Parish to New Orleans East at a Bullard Avenue strip mall not far from Interstate 10, according to an application filed with the city.”
Live blog: RTA board holds public hearing on new ferry fares | The Lens – The Lens recaps its live blog of yesterday’s Regional Transit Authority hearing on ferry fares.
Environment
Ken Cook on Improving the Chemical Safety Improvement Act | Truthout – In-depth discussion of changes that weakened the chemical safety measure initiated by Sen. David Vitter and the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey).
SkyTruth, the environment and the satellite revolution | The Washington Post – Satellite analyses “of the gulf oil spill in 2010, posted on SkyTruth’s Web site, almost single-handedly forced BP and the U.S. government to acknowledge that the spill was far worse than either was saying.”